Liquid containers

ABSTRACT

A liquid container comprising a cup, the contents of which have a more or less low viscous consistency, which is closed by a lid. Radially inwardly of the pouring edge of the cup the lid has a recess which comprises a bottom and an annular side wall, said side wall being spaced from the inside surface of the cup so as to present around a portion of its circumference a slot-like interspace between the inside surface of the cup and the annular side wall. The volume of liquid contained in the cup is such that the liquid, when the cup stands vertical, fills the whole of the cup below the bottom of the recess and fills at least a portion of the slot-like interspace.

United States Patent 1151 3,666,088 Wingardh 1 May 30, 1972 [54] LIQUIDCONTAINERS 3,054,679 9 1962 Bradford .229 43 ux 2,941,660 6/1960 Tupper..206/46 R [72] Invent Um Mmarp, Swede 1125,6112 7/1964 Goodman..229/l.5 B x [73] Assignee: Sprinter Pack AB, Laholmsvagen, l-lalmmad,Sweden FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Filed: y 25 97 1,420 1897 GreatBritain ..220/42 B Appl. No.: 40,325

Field of Search ..206/46 L, 46 R; 229/43, 1.5 B; 220/42 B, 90.4; 99/171B, 171 C References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1967 Davis ..220/44RX10/1962 Pollick ..229/43 Primary Examinerl.eonard SummerAttorney-Ostrolenk, Faber, Gerb & Soffen [5 7] ABSTRACT A liquidcontainer comprising a cup, the contents of which have a more or lesslow viscous consistency, which is closed by a lid. Radially inwardly ofthe pouring edge of the cup the lid has a recess which comprises abottom and an annular side wall, said side wall being spaced from theinside surface of the cup so as to present around a portion of itscircumference a slot-like interspace between the inside surface of thecup and the annular side wall. The volume of liquid contained in the cupis such that the liquid, when the cup stands vertical, fills the wholeof the cup below the bottom of the recess and fills at least a portionof the slot-like interspace.

3 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure Patented May 30, 1972 flaw/Mn 5,; Vans ,4fax/m.

LIQUID CONTAINERS The present invention relates to a liquid containercomprising a cup containing a more or less low-viscous substance andclosed by means of a lid.

The invention primarily relates to containers for beverages, such asfruit juice, so-called still drinks, milk, yoghurt, etc. Beverages ofthis nature are normally sold in plastic cups which have been sealedwith an aluminum foil lid. A serious disadvantage associated withhitherto known containers of the type referred to is that a relativelylarge volume of air is entrapped between the surface of the beverage andthe lid and that this air, together with its content of oxygen, actsdetrimentally on the liquid stored in the container. The object of thepresent invention is to eliminate the aforementioned disadvantage to thegreatest possible extent, this being achieved according to the inventionby means of a container defined in the appended claims. Because of thenarrow radial width of the slot-like interspace between the inside ofthe lid and the inside of the cup the free surface of the liquid isrestricted to a small ring in the upper portion of the slot-likeinterspace, thereby reducing the risk of oxidizing the liquid to aminimum. Containers manufactured in accordance with the invention aresuitably designed to enable them to be nested for packaging purposes andthe lid should preferably be capable of being replaced subsequent toconsuming a portion of the contents of the cup.

The cup and the lid are both suitably made of a known type of plasticmaterial, such as polystyrene, which can be heat moulded or extruded andwhich enables the lid to be sealed to the cup as by such welding methodsas ultrasound welding, high-frequency welding or friction welding.

A suitable construction of a liquid container according to the presentinvention is illustrated in enlarged scale and partly in section in theaccompanying drawing.

The conical, plastic cup is provided at its pouring edge with a radial,annular lip 1 1.

The plastic lid 12 has a relatively deep recess which forms a flatbottom 13 surrounded by an annular side wall 14. The wall 14 is radiallyspaced from the inside face of the cup to provide a slot-like interspace15. The flange forming edge portion 16 of the lid extends over the lip11 of the cup and is provided with an annular groove, the bottom 17 ofwhich is secured to the lip 11 as by welding. One side 18 of the grooveis connected to the upper edge portions of the wall 14 and formstherewith a downwardly open channel 19.

The other side 20 of the groove is connected to the outermost edgeportion 21 of the lid, said portion forming an annular flange spacedaxially from and above the lip 11 to leave a gap 22 having a width ofnot less than 2 mm and deep enough to allow the edge of a coin to beinserted, for the purpose of separating the flange 21 and lip 11 bytwisting the coin. The strength of the weld at the bottom 17 is suchthat the weld can be broken by exerting a force which allows the lid tobe removed without being damaged.

To enable the lid to be centered with respect to the annular side wall14 there are suitably provided in said side wall three evenly spacedshoulders 23, which are formed by creating local bulges in the side wall14. These shoulders also serve to retain the lid in position when it isreplaced, subsequent to breaking the weld at 17.

As shown in the FIGURE, the cup is filled with a liquid 24 to such anextent that, when applying the lid, the liquid is pressed up into theslot-like interspace so that its level 25 is situated in the vicinity ofthe pouring edge of the cup. The free liquid surface is thus reduced toa minimum in relation to the surface which would be obtained if theliquid would not fill the cup up to a level corresponding to theunderneath of bottom 13. If desired, the cup can be filled so that theliquid surface 25 is level with the pouring edge of the cup. This isachieved by dispensing to the cup a quantity of liquid which slightlyexceeds the amount which the cup is intended to contain. Surplus liquidand air is then displaced when applying the lid. All containers filledin this manner will therefore contain exactly the same quantity ofliquid.

As will be seen from the FIGURE, the recess 13 also forms a seatingwhich permits piling of the containers.

Subsequent to removing the lid 12, it can be placed to one side with thebottom 13 turned upwards. Any particles of water adhering to the surfaceof the lid will then run down around the outside of annular side wall 14to be collected in the now upwardly open channel 19, thereby preventingin a simple manner liquid from running outside the edge of the lid.

The container of the invention can be used for more or less low viscousproducts and also such products which are in liquid form when put intothe container but which later form more or less solid pastes or the likewhich should be protected from the harmful effect of air to the highestpossible degree before the lid is removed.

What I claim is:

1. A disposable type container structure for liquids of low viscousconsistency comprising:

a cup having a tapered side wall configuration of annular cross-section;

the smaller diameter end terminating in a bottom wall joined to saidannular side wall;

the larger diameter end having an outwardly extending annular shapedpouring lip;

a lid for sealing the open larger diameter end of said cup;

said lid having a tapered side wall configuration of annularcross-section;

the small diameter end of said lid side wall having a bottom wallintegrally joined to said side wall;

the larger diameter end of said lid side wall having an outwardlyextending lip;

an inner portion of said lid lip extending below the free end of saidlip and resting on said pouring lip to define an annular space betweensaid lips;

the tapers of said cup and said lid being similar whereby the adjacentside wall sections of said cup and said lip are substantially equallyspaced from one another to define a narrow slot-like interspace betweenthe inner surface of said cup side wall and the outer surface of saidlid side wall;

the spacing between the lip of said cup and said lid side wall andbetween the bottom end of said lid side wall and said cup side wallbeing substantially equal;

said cup being filled with said liquid to a level above the bottom wallof said lid so that said liquid fills at least a portion of saidslot-like interspace to minimize the exposed area of the top surface ofsaid liquid.

2. A container according to claim 1, characterized in that the annularside wall of said lid is provided on the outer surface thereof with aplurality of radial shoulders adapted to center the lid recess in thecontainer so that the slot-like recess has approximately the same radialwidth around the circumference of the cup.

3. A container according to claim 1, on which cup lip a correspondingportion of the lid is secured by joining together the mutually abuttingsurface of the lip and the lid, characterized in that the edge portionof the lid includes a radial edge flange whose radial outermost portionis axially spaced from the lip of the cup at a distance of at least 2 mmtherefrom to enable a coin to be inserted between said portion and thelip for the purpose of removing the lid, and that the aforesaid innerportion of the lip of said lid is provided with an annular groove, thebottom of which abuts the lip of the cup and is affixed thereto by meansof a weld which can be broken by twisting said coin, one side of thegroove merging with the edge flange of the lid and the other side ofsaid groove merging with the upper portion of the side wall of therecess.

1. A disposable type container structure for liquids of low viscousconsistency comprising: a cup having a tapered side wall configurationof annular crosssection; the smaller diameter end terminating in abottom wall joined to said annular side wall; the larger diameter endhaving an outwardly extending annular shaped pouring lip; a lid forsealing the open larger diameter end of said cup; said lid having atapered side wall configuration of annular cross-section; the smalldiameter end of said lid side wall having a bottom wall integrallyjoined to said side wall; the larger diameter end of said lid side wallhaving an outwardly extending lip; an inner portion of said lid lipextending below the free end of said lip and resting on said pouring lipto define an annular space between said lips; the tapers of said cup andsaid lid being similar whereby the adjacent side wall sections of saidcup and said lip are substantially equally spaced from one another todefine a narrow slot-like interspace between the inner surface of saidcup side wall and the outer surface of said lid side wall; the spacingbetween the lip of said cup and said lid side wall and between thebottom end of said lid side wall and said cup side wall beingsubstantially equal; said cup being filled with said liquid to a levelabove the bottom wall of said lid so that said liquid fills at least aportion of said slot-like interspace to minimize the exposed area of thetop surface of said liquid.
 2. A container according to claim 1,characterIzed in that the annular side wall of said lid is provided onthe outer surface thereof with a plurality of radial shoulders adaptedto center the lid recess in the container so that the slot-like recesshas approximately the same radial width around the circumference of thecup.
 3. A container according to claim 1, on which cup lip acorresponding portion of the lid is secured by joining together themutually abutting surface of the lip and the lid, characterized in thatthe edge portion of the lid includes a radial edge flange whose radialoutermost portion is axially spaced from the lip of the cup at adistance of at least 2 mm therefrom to enable a coin to be insertedbetween said portion and the lip for the purpose of removing the lid,and that the aforesaid inner portion of the lip of said lid is providedwith an annular groove, the bottom of which abuts the lip of the cup andis affixed thereto by means of a weld which can be broken by twistingsaid coin, one side of the groove merging with the edge flange of thelid and the other side of said groove merging with the upper portion ofthe side wall of the recess.